


Baby Rogues vs Babysitter

by GachMoBrea



Series: My Father, Barry Allen [16]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: 'Captain Cold', (But the good kind this time.), AU, Alternate Universe, Babysitting, Barry is Len's DAD, Blanket Forts, Cousin!Lisa, Father!Barry, Gen, Goes with the Series, Helpful!Mick, Little!Len, Mick is so Cute, OOC, Protective/Worried!Barry, Ronnie Lives!, Son!Len, Teenager!Lisa, The Polar Bear, Young!Mick, despicable me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 05:59:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7923247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cousin Lisa as Little Len's babysitter! <br/>WHAT will happen?!?!?!?!?!<br/>& how will Mick's presence affect the teenager's babying?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

It's a Saturday when Barry brings Lisa to his house to babysit Len for the first time.  
"He's already eaten breakfast. There's lunch pre-made in the fridge. He can have any snack on the third shelf in the pantry and however much water and juice he wants." Barry gives his cousin the run down after showing her where all the rooms where in the house. "This is my cell number, the number for the phone at my desk, Joe's cell number, the number for his desk, Iris's number, her work number, the number for the CCPD, poison control, you already know 9-1-1, the nearest hospital, Caitlin's number and Cisco's numbers are good to use if you're trying to get a hold of me but I'm not answering for some reason. I should absolutely answer but I like to know that you can call them and I know they will get to me."  
"Barry," Lisa groans after looking over the long list of numbers. "I have all those numbers already in my phone! Plus, I stayed the night here before. Don't you have to leave yet?"  
The speedster glances at his watch and frowns. 'I can spare a few more minutes.'  
"Make sure you lock the doors in the front and back. Don't let anyone in who isn't me, Joe or Iris, no matter what they say. If-"  
"What if it's my mom or your mom or Uncle Henry?"  
"If you're sure it's them, then that should be okay. But let me know, just in case."  
"If I'm sure? Don't you think I know my own mother?"  
"You can never be too careful, Lisa," Barry slightly wishes he could tell his cousin about the metahuman who could change his appearances, but then she might ask about how he knew that and it would risk her figuring out his other identity.  
"I know this is super duper hard for you," Lisa pats the man on his back. "But I can guarantee you, I will protect our beloved Lenny with all my power."  
"I know you will," he relaxes at her confident grin. "I'm just a little uneasy about all this I guess. It's not you-"  
"It's you," the teenager rolls her eyes. "Gosh, Barry, just go to work already! I'll even text you every ten minutes with a picture if you promise to leave right now."  
"I'm going to talk to your mother about buying you a better phone and putting you on my plan," Barry tells her, walking over to Len. "That way I can pay your bill instead of paying you."  
"Really?" Lisa brightens. "Can I have the newest iPhone? With 64GB memory and golden case?"  
"Not real gold."  
"Awesome."

Barry kneels in front of Len to hug him.  
"I'm only one call away," he whispers into his boy's ear. "There's a list of numbers under the phone upstairs. Mine is the one on the top. Just match the numbers with the button and hold the talking part to your ear."  
Len inwardly rolls his eyes. "I'm sure I'll be fine."  
Barry squeezes Len for a second, then finally lets go. "Love you, kiddo."  
"Have a good day, Dad," Len smiles.

Two more minutes of dragging feet and a few hundred shoves from Lisa later, Barry finally goes to work.  
Despite his confidence in this version of his sister, Len still feels a little anxious once he's actually alone with her.  
"Now," Lisa sighs as she watches her cousin drive away. Then she smiles over to Len, "Do you want to watch a movie and eat popcorn?"  
Len relaxes, "Sure."

It's a children's movie about a Russian villain who's forced to adopt three girls that he eventually falls in love with and blah, blah, blah.  
Len chuckles at the "Freeze Ray!" every time. The minions were almost completely incompetent, but having indestructible servants who obeyed (or at least tried to) your every whim could come in handy.  
"I love Gru," Lisa sighs happily, tossing more popcorn into her mouth. "He's like, the best dad ever."  
'I wouldn't say that.' Len shrugs, taking another handful of popcorn. He had to eat them one at a time if he didn't want to be fed them but at least he could hold several of them at once.  
As the credits roll, Lisa stands up and stretches with an, "Allllriiighty."  
She looks over to Len, "That movie made me hungry for cookies. You wanna help?"  
"What do I get to do?" Because he knows there's no way the babyer will allow him near the oven.  
"No where near the oven." She confirms with a serious tone. "But you can help roll it out and put it on the pan."  
"Can we eat some of the dough?" he asks her as they walk to the kitchen. When they were kids, Len would always let Lisa eat out of the bowl when they were done. As they got older, he purposely left more and more dough.  
"Well," Lisa grimaces, biting on her lower lip in thought as she stares at the part of the pre-made dough that says 'do not eat raw dough'. She looks at Len. "Do you promise to only lick the spoon? Not eat the dough or tell your dad I let you lick it?"  
"I promise," he nods, raising a hand as if to swear on his honor.  
"I saw a boxing champion drink raw eggs, so they can't be THAT bad for you," the teenager nods, putting the tub of dough on the counter in order to search for the pans. "And my mom always let me lick out the bowl and I never had any issues afterwards."  
"I think the makers are legally bound to put the warning there," Len comments, getting into his seat so he can reach the table top. "People ignore it, but if it's there, they can't get sued."  
"Clever little Lenny!" Lisa chirps happily, carrying the pans over to the table with some spoons and the tub of cookie dough. "When did you get so smart?"  
'I'm a grown-up masquerading as a kid.' Len shrugs. "I don't know."  
"Must be all my positive influence," the teenager nods, removing the top of the tub. "If you stick with me, you'll go places."  
'Hopefully not insane though.' Len just keeps on smiling.

Surprisingly, Lisa lets Len 'cut' into the dough with his own spoon and lets him roll it himself as well. She does, however, insist on placing the ball on the sheet. "So they cook evenly."  
When the tub is empty, she wipes his hands with a damp cloth and puts him on the couch with a warning. "Don't move while I put the cookies in!"  
Then she cleans up and brings over a deck of cards.  
"Whoever gets the most matches, gets first pick of the cookies once they cool," she smiles at him as she deals them out.  
"Can I get off the couch now?"  
"Oh. Yes, baby, you can get down now. Thank you for being such a good listener."

Lisa makes it PAINFULLY easy to win. Len is convinced that even if he was as young as he was supposed to be, he couldn't possibly lose.  
The teenager, in her attempts to 'help', goes as far as to tap the number she has against the coffee table or shows it with her fingers.  
That's one thing Len never did when he and his Lisa were kids: Let her win.  
He went easy on her, sure, but if she wasn't going to try hard enough to win, then she was going to lose.  
Well...Except for that one time when they were playing for who got the last bowl of their favorite cereal...But it was only the one time...  
"You win again!" Lisa claps her hands for him. "You're amazing! I can't believe you got all those matches and I only got three!"  
'It was hard enough to make you take those three matches too.' Len frowns. "Wouldn't you rather play a game that you can win at, Lisa?"  
That flusters the teenager's cheeks a little but she just laughs it off as she gathers the cards again. "Do you want to play something else?"  
The timer for the cookies 'beeps' loudly from the kitchen.  
"Hold that thought," Lisa holds up a finger, then runs to save the sweets from burning.  
Len takes the cards and shuffles them, placing them out upside down on the coffee table as his cousin, once removed, comes back.  
"Watcha doing, baby?" she asks, looking at the cards curiously.  
"Memory game," he tells her with a smirk, thinking of something that might actually get her to try to beat him. "If you win, I'll give you a kiss."  
"Oh, it's on," she smiles, picking up the first card. 

Lisa wins, 9 sets to Len's 4.  
True to his word, he kisses her on the cheek.  
She takes a picture.  
"This is so going on the internet," she squeals, looking at it. "As soon as I can upload it onto my computer. Until Cousin Barry gets my new phone, of course, then It'll be instantaneous!"

They eat the cookies next. Lisa breaks Len's into several 'safe' chunks before letting him have his plate full of crumbs.  
He's tempted to try sliding the pieces into his mouth by holding the plate up, but he's being watched too carefully by his sister's double and he doesn't want her to make cookie mush for him next, so he just munches on the crumbles instead.  
Now if only he could take off the top of his sippy cup.

 

\---Barry @ Work---

'You can trust her.'  
Barry glances at the tablet that still shows the views from the nanny cams. The two are watching a movie.  
'She's family.'  
Lisa shouts and Barry tenses, but she's only excited about a scene in the movie. His cousin laughs next and the speedster relaxes again.  
'Lisa loves Len. To near extreme levels.'  
The movie ends and the teenager stretches, looking down at his son.  
'What if she literally squeezes the life out of Len?!'  
Lisa doesn't even touch Len as they go to the kitchen/dining room area to make cookies.  
'Don't let him near the oven when you put the cookies in!'  
His cousin puts his boy on the couch before putting the cookies into the oven. Then she brings over a deck of cards.  
'He could get a paper cut!' Barry shakes his head, ashamed of his own ridiculousness. HE plays cards with Len. No one has finished a game with an injury yet.  
After a few carefully run tests, Barry hears a loud clapping noise and he snatches up the tablet to search for the reason for it.  
Lisa is only clapping her hands, face a wide smile as she looks proudly to his boy.  
Len says something that reddens the teenager's face and Barry tenses again. But instead of lashing out, she merely laughs it off and starts to clean up the cards.  
'You CAN trust her.'  
Barry smiles as he goes back to his work. Only one eye roving over to the tablet now.  
He still leaves work early.

-


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here comes Mick!!!

Barry's "Day Off" is ruined by a metahuman with plant-like abilities. Cisco is mulling over possible names while Barry brings Len and Mick over to his parents' house for Lisa to watch them.  
"My neighbor can't handle the two boys." Caitlin had laughed.

"Lenny!" Lisa cheers from the sidewalk as her cousin stops the vehicle. The teenager goes straight for the door before the engine even stops. "You brought a friend with you?"  
"Hi, miss Lisa," Mick smiles at the teenager as he unbuckles himself. "My names, Mick. It's nice to meet you."  
"You have fantastic manners, Mick," Lisa compliments as she pulls Len out of his booster seat. "How long will I have both of these fantastic young men?"  
"Not sure," Barry shrugs. "It's a sudden, emergency, thing. I'll try and text you when I'm on my way back."  
"No hurry!" his cousin assures him. "The boys and I will have a grand ole time building THE best blanket fort ever created."  
"Sounds awesome," Mick looks excited as he waits for the teenager to lead him to the house.  
"I'll see you soon, Len," Barry kisses his boy on the forehead. "You okay with this?"  
"I have Mick to protect me," Len teases as he glances at Lisa.  
"Protect you from what?" Lisa frowns.  
'From you.' Len shrugs. "Nothing."

Barry drives the car out of sight, then runs to STAR Labs to change into The Flash.

\---@ the house---

"So, Mick," Lisa addresses the older boy as she puts Len down. "My mom, Mrs. Thompson to you, is out with her sister, Mrs. Allen, and Dr. Allen is at work. So, it's up to you and me to keep Len safe, entertained, and fed."  
"Is he a dog?" Mick frowns, looking over to the younger boy as he chuckles.  
"No," the teenager shakes her head. "He's much more important than that. He's my precious first cousin."  
"Once removed," Len whispers to Mick.  
"And so, without further ado," Lisa pulls a sheet off the couch to reveal a pile of blankets that were different shapes, sizes, and colors covering the furniture's cushions.  
She grins at the boys, "Shall we begin?"

"Careful, Lenny!"  
"Careful, Len!"  
"No! Sorry, I mean, please don't touch that. It's too dangerous."  
Len huffs in frustration as he takes a step away from 'their' fort. Basically, Lisa has only allowed him to hand her or Mick blankets. When he tries to fasten something or adjust a support, he was immediately stopped.  
While Lisa struggles with the middle support under the king size comforter, Mick walks over to his new friend and grins.  
"She baby you a lot?" he whispers, jerking his thumb in the teenager's general area.  
Len rolls his eyes. "She makes me use a sippy cup."  
Mick snorts. "I can fix that."  
"Oh?" the younger boy raises an eyebrow. "How?"  
"Get rid of all the sippy cups," the older boy grins. "Keep an eye on her. It might take me a few minutes to find them all."  
Len watches in pride as this version of his partner takes off to the kitchen.  
"What's going on out there?" Lisa's voice asks, blankets moving comically with each word. "Is everything OK? I'm coming out."  
"Everything's fine!" Len assures her louder than he needs to. "Just get that chair steady again if you want us to enjoy your awesome fort."  
"OUR awesome fort!" she counters, remaining under the blankets. "Mick? Can you get me the spare roll of packing tape please? Don't give it to Len! There's a sharp cutter on it!"  
Mick stifles his laugh as he hands the roll over to exactly who he was told not to. Len winks to the older boy as he moves close enough to roll the tape under the blankets and to his once removed cousin.  
"Thanks, Mick!" Lisa chirps happily, tape already being pulled by the sound of it.  
"You're welcome!" Mick shouts back from the kitchen, sippy cups in his arms as he grins over to Len.  
"Are you in the kitchen?" The teenager stills under the blankets. "Do you need help finding a snack or something?"  
"I've got it!" Mick assures her, putting the cups into the backpack he brought with him. "Just looking around a little. Sorry if I scared you."  
"Oh, it's fine!" Lisa assures him, finally coming out of the fort to smile at him. "What did you bring in that backpack?"  
"Boring boy things," the nine-year old shrugs. "How's the fort coming?"  
"Great!" the teenager claps excitedly. "So good, I think we should take a snack break."  
"Can I help?" Len asks as he follows her to the kitchen.  
"You can, uh," Lisa looks around for something and grabs a pule of napkins. "You can place the napkins!"  
"Great," he intones, taking them and moving to the table.  
"Can I help too?" Mick asks next.  
"You can cut Len's grapes in half," Lisa rolls her eyes. "My cousin foolishly thinks that whole grapes are a good idea for little Lenny, but I know better."  
"Of course you do." The nine-year old winks at the younger boy, showing him how he 'cuts'. In reality, Mick only slices every other grape in half, hiding the unmarked grapes amongst the pieces of the others.  
"Can I have water, please?" Len asks as his confidante gives him the bowl of grapes.  
"Sure, baby!" Lisa smiles, putting the cracker selections down to go for the cabinets. Her smile sours as she carefully goes through every cabinet, even the smaller spice one. "That's strange."  
"What's wrong?" Mick pretends to be worried as he tries to look over the teenager's shoulder. "Are all the cups gone?"  
Len snorts, "Who would steal a bunch of cups?"  
"Cup-less people. Or people without cups."  
"And I suppose there are a lot of these kinds of people?"  
"You can never tell. They hide their misfortune behind their plates."  
As the boys snicker, Lisa re-re-checks the cabinets. "I wonder if Aunt Nora got rid of them? No, she wouldn't do that. Would she? Maybe she put them in storage?"  
"Why can't Len just use a regular cup?" Mick suggests, pointing to a small one on the shelf. "If you're worried about him spilling, you can just give him a little."  
"Well," Lisa sighs. "I have no choice. The boy's gotta drink."  
She puts the smallest cup she can find in front of Len and carefully pours one third a measurement of water in it.  
Len thanks her and drinks the whole thing in one go. Without spilling a drop.  
"More please!" He hands the cup back.  
"They grow up so fast," Lisa snuffles, pouring the same amount again.

\- - -

When Barry returns to get the boys, he's surprised to find the older one with a protective arm over his son's chest.  
"Stay back, ye mighty dragon!" Mick orders the dramatic growl coming from the blankets. "I, the great Mick! Will slay thee if thou comest one step out of the den!"  
"ROAR!" Lisa bellows, emerging from the blankets. She has sheets tied to her wrists to make it look like she has wings and her hair is a lopsided mess on her head.  
"Gasp!" Len points to the teenager. "Look at her hair!"  
"Tis a terrible sight to behold indeed," Mick nods, pretending to draw a sword. "I will have mercy on the dragon and slay it!"  
Then the nine-year old tackled the teenager and Barry had to put a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing.  
He doesn't completely succeed and Len looks over to him to wave.  
"I'm not the princess," the boy informs his father. "I'm the wounded king taken captive by the beast and Mick is the night who has come to rescue me."  
"But he's not really wounded!" Lisa assures her cousin mid-tumble.  
"Of course not," Len rolls his eyes good-naturedly. "I AM capable of pretending, you know."  
"Die!" Mick 'stabs' Lisa in the heart and the teenager jerks with the 'motion'.  
"No," she quietly protests, then falls back with her tongue out in a 'death pose'.  
"That escalated quickly," Barry smiles at the scene. "I take it, you boys had a good time then?"  
"Great!" Mick helps Lisa get to her feet. "Miss Lisa is a marvelous babysitter."  
"Tut, tut," the teenager shakes her finger. "I am merely your hostess, my dear boy."  
"My apologies," the nine-year old bows his head. "Miss Lisa is a marvelous HOSTESS."  
"But not the cupcake kind," Len chuckles, walking over to his dad. "By the way, can we get a dessert on our way home? I'm hungry for something sweet."  
"You just finished a whole tray of cheese and crackers," Lisa sarcastically scolds her little relative as she lazily tosses the blankets out of the way. "How can you be hungry again already?"  
"I'm a growing boy?" Len shrugs at her, then looks back at Barry. "Please?"  
'How can I resist that face?' Barry smiles at him. "Sure. But we'll need to get enough to share with Mick and his family."  
"Thanks Mr. Barry!" Mick cheers, grabbing his backpack from under the table where he had hidden it before jogging over to the adult. "Thanks for everything, Miss Lisa!"  
"Thank YOU for all your help," Lisa gives Mick a hug before picking up Len. "And thank you for being the best Len in the whole universe."  
"You've never met any other Lens have you?" the boy remarks strangely. "Seems a little preemptive to go around calling me 'the best' don't you?"  
"Then thanks for being you," the teenager counters without missing a beat. "I love you."  
"I'm sure I'll be seeing you again, Lisa," Len pats her on the back a few times and she eventually puts him down. "I had a good time."

Barry drives to the store and lets the boys each pick out something from the bakery before he drops Mick off at the Raymond's.  
"See ya, Len!" the nine year old waves from the front porch when his father opens the door. Ronnie waves too as the speedster drives off with his son.

-


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not much Len, but: Enter the Polar Bear!!!  
> (Thanks "SomePerson"! *This was literally their name.*)

Joe takes Len out for lunch while Barry takes Lisa to the mall to get her new phone and put her on his plan.

"It's perfect!" Lisa 'squees' happily as she jumps up and down with her new phone. "I promise to be more annoying than you are protective when I send picture and videos of Len! This is going to be SO awesome!"  
Barry smiles at the girl behind the counter as he pays the fee.  
When they get out of the cell phone store, Lisa wraps the speedster up in a tight hug.  
"Thank you! Thank You! Thank You~u!" she sings before pulling away.  
"No, no, Lisa," Barry shakes his head. "Thank YOU. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't around to help out with Len."  
"Drag him around everywhere, of course," the teenager giggles.  
"I'm being serious, Lisa," the older cousin puts a hand on the younger cousin's shoulder. "It means a lot to me to know I can trust Len with you. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it feels to trust him with you."  
"Barry..." Lisa wipes at her eyes a little, then smiles brightly at him. "I'm hear for you, cousin! I love Len with more of my heart than I can describe."  
"Then we're both equal parts indescribable," the speedster chuckles, releasing his cousin. "Why don't you look around while we're here? I'm going to check in with Joe real quick."  
"And over protective Barry is back," Lisa giggles, dodging a playful swipe form her cousin as she trots away to look at the other stores.

Barry calls Joe and, "Everything's fine here. Why don't you try looking around and enjoying yourself for once?"  
"I enjoy doing lots of things that don't require me to be near Len," the speedster protests, but doesn't' convince anyone. "I have hobbies."  
"You watch sci-fi movies with Cisco when you can't sleep," his father in law corrects. "That's not a hobby, Barry, that's insomnia."  
"It's not a bad thing for a father to constantly think about his son."  
"Then go buy him a present or something. That should occupy you for a few hours at least."  
"What do you mean 'occupy' me? What are you two doing? I thought you were going out for lunch?"  
"Goodbye, Barry."  
"Joe-!"  
The speedster frowns at his device as the dial tone bellows at him. He puts it away as he sighs in defeat. 'A present?'

Barry walks halfway through the mall before something catches his eye in an electronics shop.  
"Anywhere they go, their friend goes too!" a sign says in bright, bold letters, "And you'll know exactly where!"  
He goes inside.

-Back Home-

After dropping Lisa back home, Barry drives to his place.  
Once inside the house, he takes a deep breath and smiles.  
"Italian crusted chicken with garlic bread and spaghetti?" he guesses aloud as he makes his way to the dining room. His son is sitting on his knees in a chair, putting out the utensils. Joe is in the kitchen stirring a pot and Iris is carrying over a bread bowl.  
"Barry!" Iris kisses her husband on the cheek after putting the bread down. "Welcome home!"  
"All done, Poppa!" Len announces proudly as he pushes away from the table to look at the set places. He smiles at Barry, "Poppa lets me touch knives."  
"Butter knives," Joe assures his suddenly frightened son in law. "It would take too much effort for Len to hurt himself with those things. Relax, Barry."  
"What's behind your back?" Iris draws the conversation from all things sharp as she tries to look around her husband to see the bag he was hiding.  
"It's something for Len," Barry smiles, pulling the bag in front to get at its contents. He pulls out a stuffed polar bear and hand it to his son. "What do you think, kiddo?"  
Len takes the bear with two hands and smiles at it. "It's great, Dad. Thanks!"  
"What are you going to name him?" Iris asks. "Or is it a girl?"  
"Definitely a boy," Len assures his step mother, tilting his head in consideration before breaking out in a secret smile. "I think I'll call him 'Captain Cold'."  
"Captain Cold?" Joe repeats curiously. "Why that name Len?"  
"Well, he's a polar bear. And polar bears usually live where it's cold," the boy grins. "I'd call him Citizen Cold but he isn't human and it doesn't sound as nice."  
"I think it's perfect," Barry pats him boy on the head. "Captain Cold it is."

-That Night.-

Len smooths the fur of his new animal carefully as he lays in his bed. Barry will be there any minute to tuck him in and read him a story.  
"Captain Cold," he murmurs to the bear as if it could understand the inside joke and tribute to his old life. "I think we're gonna be good friends, you and I."  
His dad comes into the room a moment later and he offers him a large, genuine smile.  
"Thanks for my bear, Dad."  
"You're welcome, kiddo," Barry tucks in the corners before snatching a book at random off of Len's small bookshelf and sitting next to him. "Aesop's fables."  
'Supposedly child friendly.' Len adjusts more comfortably under the covers. 'I wonder if Barry knows the one with the beheading...'

-

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing.  
> But I wish I had a friend like Mick. =}


End file.
